Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status
The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
In the event the determination of the status of the application as subject to AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103 (or as subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103) is incorrect, any correction of the statutory basis (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) for the rejection will not be considered a new ground of rejection if the prior art relied upon, and the rationale supporting the rejection, would be the same under either status.
The following is a quotation of the appropriate paragraphs of 35 U.S.C. 102 that form the basis for the rejections under this section made in this Office action:
A person shall be entitled to a patent unless –
(a)(1) the claimed invention was patented, described in a printed publication, or in public use, on sale, or otherwise available to the public before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claims 1, 4, 10, 18, and 20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Hisakawa US 2010/0231804
1. Hisakawa discloses a backlight structure (abstract, see at least Fig 7-8), comprising: a substrate (LED substrate 40, see Fig 7); a barrier wall pattern (see pattern of reflector 50a which creates a barrier wall), located on the substrate (Fig 7 and 8), and comprising a plurality of openings arrayed along a first direction and a second direction (see array of openings between walls 50a, Fig 7) and a barrier wall 50a surrounding the openings (50a is shown enclosed on all sides therefore surrounding the areas), the plurality of openings being configured to define a plurality of light regions (regions 20 where the light emitters are located as indicated in Markup A), and the first direction intersecting the second direction (see Fig 7); and a plurality of light-emitting units (see 3 LEDs 23 within each region), located on the substrate 40, and distributed in the plurality of light regions (Fig 7), wherein the substrate comprises a central region and an edge region surrounding the central region (paragraph 0054 states that each LED substrate has 5 LED arrangements 20 in the long-side direction and two in the short- side direction; Figure 8 is the same embodiment as figure 7 and shows the light unit as described in paragraph 0054; see modified Figure 7, Markup B, for a depiction of a central region and an edge region for this embodiment); each light region at least in the central region is provided with at least three light-emitting units (three emitters 23 in each region, as shown below in Markup B), centers of M light-emitting units (centers of each light unit 23, see Fig 7), closest to vertex angles of the light region, among the at least three light-emitting units are sequentially connected to form an M-sided polygon (three-sided polygon), and a distance between a center of the M-sided polygon and a center of the light region is less than 10% of a pitch of the light region (see 23, Fig 7 and 8), and a thickness of the barrier wall is greater than a height of the light-emitting unit (thickness of barrier wall 50, 50a, shown in Fig 8 is greater than height of LED 23) in a direction perpendicular to the substrate.
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4. Hisakawa discloses the backlight structure according to claim 1, wherein a ratio of a light intensity at an edge position of the light region to a light intensity at a center position of the light region is not less than 0.5 (paragraph 0049, Hisakawa teaches brightness uniformity of the illuminating light).
10. Hisakawa discloses a backlight structure (abstract, see at least Fig 7-8), comprising: a substrate (LED substrate 40, see Fig 7; figure 8 shows the substrate labelled as 22); a barrier wall pattern (see pattern of reflector 50a which creates a barrier wall), located on the substrate (Fig 7 and 8), and comprising a plurality of openings arrayed along a first direction and a second direction (see array of openings between walls 50a, Fig 7) and a barrier wall 50a surrounding the openings (50a is shown enclosed on all sides therefore surrounding the areas), the plurality of openings being configured to define a plurality of light regions (regions 20 where the light emitters are located as indicated in Markup A), and the first direction intersecting the second direction (see Fig 7); and a plurality of light-emitting units (see 3 LEDs 23 within each region), located on the substrate 40, and distributed in the plurality of light regions (Fig 7), wherein the substrate comprises a central region and an edge region surrounding the central region (paragraph 0054 states that each LED substrate has 5 LED arrangements 20 in the long-side direction and two in the short- side direction; Figure 8 is the same embodiment as figure 7 and shows the light unit as described in paragraph 0054; see modified Figure 7, Markup B, for a depiction of a central region and an edge region for this embodiment); each light region at least in the central region is provided with at least three light-emitting units (three emitters 23 in each region, as shown below in Markup B), centers of M light-emitting units (centers of each light unit 23, see Fig 7), closest to vertex angles of the light region, among the at least three light-emitting units are sequentially connected to form an M-sided polygon (three-sided polygon), and a distance between a center of the M-sided polygon and a center of the light region is less than 10% of a pitch of the light region (see 23, Fig 7 and 8), the light-emitting units disposed in each light region are electrically connected (LEDS 23 are electrically connected via substrate (paragraph 0054) and the barrier wall comprises a shading material (wall 50 itself is reflective but is interpreted as being a being a shading material in that the height of 50, 50a is capable of shading one light emitting region from another, see Fig 8).
18. Hisakawa discloses the backlight structure according to claim 10, wherein at least some of the light regions are in the shape of a rectangle (see rectangle shaped light regions formed by walls 50a in Fig 7 of Hisakawa), and two adjacent sides of the rectangle extend along the first direction and the second direction, respectively (directions of walls are the first and second directions, see Fig 7).
20. Hisakawa discloses a display device (abstract), comprising: a display panel (paragraph 0028, LCD), and a backlight structure (12, Fig 2) according to claim 1 (see above for the limitations of claim 1), wherein the display panel is located on a light exit side of the backlight structure (as shown at least in Figures 2 and 5).
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 103 which forms the basis for all obviousness rejections set forth in this Office action:
A patent for a claimed invention may not be obtained, notwithstanding that the claimed invention is not identically disclosed as set forth in section 102, if the differences between the claimed invention and the prior art are such that the claimed invention as a whole would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which the claimed invention pertains. Patentability shall not be negated by the manner in which the invention was made.
Claim 7 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Hisakawa in view of Ota US 2022/0137281.
7. Hisakawa discloses the backlight structure according to claim 1, further comprising: a light diffusion structure (diffusing sheet, paragraph 0032), located on a side of the light-emitting unit away from the substrate (15, Fig 3), wherein the light diffusion structure comprises at least one layer of a diffusion film (diffusion sheet), but is silent to the dimensions of the film therefore fails to teach the diffusion film has a thickness of 0.05 to 0.2 mm. Ota teaches a diffusion film has a thickness of 0.05 to 0.2 mm (paragraph 0059). It would have been obvious for one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling of the claimed invention to utilize the 50-200micron diffusion sheet of Ota in Hisakawa where having a thin diffusing structure is desired. One would have been motivated to make this substitution where having a thin diffuser is desired.
Claims 8 and 9 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Hisakawa in view of Ota US 2022/0137281, as applied to claim 9, and further in view of Moon US 2019/0129253.
8 and 9. Hisakawa discloses the backlight structure according to claim 7, but fails to further teach a color conversion structure, located on a side of the light diffusion structure away from the light-emitting units, wherein the color conversion structure comprises a color conversion film configured to convert first color light into second color light, the first color light comprises blue light, and the second color light comprises at least one of red light and green light; the color conversion structure further comprises a prism located on a side of the color conversion film away from the light-emitting units (claim 8); a prism structure located on a side of the color conversion structure away from the light-emitting units, wherein the prism structure comprises at least one prism layer, and the prism layer has a thickness of 0.05 to 0.2 mm.
Moon teaches a color conversion structure 350, located on a side of the light diffusion structure away from the light-emitting units (see Fig 4), wherein the color conversion structure comprises a color conversion film configured to convert first color light into second color light (paragraph 0065), the first color light comprises blue light, and the second color light comprises at least one of red light and green light (can convert blue light into green light, paragraph 0065); the color conversion structure further comprises a prism located on a side of the color conversion film away from the light-emitting units (prism sheet 370 on side of 350 away from light units and in this case light emitting upward from light guide plate, see Fig 4); a prism structure located on a side of the color conversion structure away from the light-emitting units (370, Fig 4, paragraph 0065, wherein the prism structure comprises at least one prism layer (prism layer 370). It would have been obvious for one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling of the claimed invention and combine the color conversion structure and prism sheet of Moon with the backlight of Hisakawa where converting light to another color and providing optical sheets such as prism sheets are desired to achieve an alternate, desired luminous output in Hisakawa.
Regarding the range of the thickness being 0.05 to 0.2 mm, It would have been obvious for one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling of the claimed invention to, if applicable, modify and utilize a prism sheet with a thickness of 0.05 to 0.2 mm to achieve a thin layer for the optical sheet, since it has been held that where the general conditions of a claim are disclosed in the prior art, discovering the optimum or workable ranges involves only ordinary skill in the art. In re Aller, 105 USPQ 233. See MPEP 2144.05
Claims 13-15 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Hisakawa in view of Ling CN 109116631 (see English translation).
As for claim 13, Hisakawa discloses the device of claim 10, but fails to further teach wherein each of the at least some of the light regions comprises at least four light-emitting units, the at least four light-emitting units are arranged to form the M-sided polygon, and an included angle between one of the first direction and the second direction and at least one side of the M-sided polygon is 0 degrees (claim 13). Ling teaches a lighting device wherein each of the at least some of the light regions comprises at least four light-emitting units (see Fig 3, four light units 22 in each region), the at least four light-emitting units are arranged to form the M-sided polygon (rectangle shape, see Fig 3), and an included angle between one of the first direction and the second direction and at least one side of the M-sided polygon is 0 degrees (see arrangement of 22 in Fig 3). It would have been obvious for one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling of the claimed invention to look to the teachings of Ling and utilize the configuration having four LEDs in each region for applications where having an alternate luminous output is desired.
As for claim 14, see the discussion above for modifying Hisakawa in view of Ling for the arrangement of four LEDs in a group. The combination renders having each of the light regions with at least four light emitting units (see Fig 3 Ling); regarding having each of the at least some of the light regions is in the shape of a first square, the M-sided polygon is a second square, and an included angle between a diagonal of the first square and a diagonal of the second square is 0 degrees, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to rearrange the light regions and placement of the LEDs to square configurations, since it has been held that rearranging parts of a prior art structure involves only routine skill in the art. In re Japikse, 181 F.2d 1019, 86 USPQ 70 (CCPA 1950) see MPEP 2144.04(VI)(C). One would have been motivated to rearrange the LEDs in the device of Hisakawa in view of Ling to achieve an alternate luminous output/effect.
As for claim 15, see the discussion above for modifying Hisakawa in view of Ling for the arrangement of four LEDs in a group in the square configuration discussed in claim 14; the combination further renders wherein the at least four light-emitting units comprise four light-emitting units (see four light units 22 in Fig 3 of Ling), and centers of the four light-emitting units are sequentially connected to form the second square (modification above to square configuration discussed in claim 14 achieves this).
As for claim 16, see the discussion above regarding the modification of Hisakawa in view of Ling to have some light regions with four units. Hisakawa further teaches wherein each of the at least some of the light regions comprises three light-emitting units (see light units 20 with three LEDs 23 in at least Fig 7), centers of the three light-emitting units are sequentially connected to form a triangle , and one side of the triangle extends in either the first direction or the second direction (connecting the centers of the LEDS 23 achieves a triangle shape with one side extending the first or second direction, as shown below in Fig 7 of Hisakawa).
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Claim 17 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Hisakawa in view of Jeon US 2008/0100774.
As for claim 17, Hisakawa discloses the backlight structure according to claim 10, and further teaches the light-emitting unit comprises a light-emitting diode chip (23, Fig 7), but fails to further teach an encapsulation structure configured to encapsulate the light-emitting diode chip, and there is a spacing between encapsulation structures of adjacent light-emitting units; a maximum size of the light-emitting unit in a direction parallel to the substrate is not greater than 500 μm. Jeon teaches the concept of encapsulating LED chips (see paragraphs 0044, 0048). It would have been obvious for one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling of the claimed invention to encapsulate the LED chips of Hisakawa to protect the LED chips from the external environment (see paragraph 0048). Regarding having a spacing between encapsulation structures of adjacent light-emitting units and a maximum size of the light-emitting unit in a direction parallel to the substrate is not greater than 500 μm, it would have been obvious for one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling of the claimed invention to modify the spacing such that a spacing between encapsulation structures of adjacent light-emitting units and a maximum size of the light-emitting unit in a direction parallel to the substrate is not greater than 500 μm, since it has been held that where the general conditions of a claim are disclosed in the prior art, discovering the optimum or workable ranges involves only ordinary skill in the art. In re Aller, 105 USPQ 233. See MPEP 2144.05
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 2, 3, 5, 6, 11, 12, and 19 are objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter; the prior art fails to specifically further teach or render obvious:
2. The backlight structure according to claim 1, wherein the pitch of the light region is P, each of at least some of the light regions comprises N light-emitting units, where N≥M, a distance from a center of an i-th light-emitting unit to a vertex angle of the light region is L.sub.i, i takes a value in the range from 1 to N, and L.sub.i, P, and N satisfy: 8.5≥P×(1/L.sub.1+1/L.sub.2+ . . . +1/L.sub.N)≥6.3.
3. The backlight structure according to claim 1, wherein a light intensity distribution I of the light-emitting unit satisfies: I=I.sub.0cosmα, I.sub.0 is the light intensity distribution along a direction of a normal perpendicular to a light exit surface of the light-emitting unit, α is an included angle between a light-emitting direction of the light-emitting unit and the normal, m=(−ln2)/(lncosα.sub.1/2), α.sub.1/2 is an included angle between the light-emitting direction and the normal when the light intensity is reduced to half of the light intensity corresponding to the normal direction, and a light ray emitted by the light-emitting unit has an optical path of h in the normal direction; and each of the at least some of the light regions comprises N light-emitting units, where N≥M, a distance from a center of an i-th light-emitting unit to a vertex angle of the light region is L.sub.i, i takes a value in the range from 1 to N, and L.sub.i, h, and N satisfy the equation of claim 3.
5. The backlight structure according to claim 1, further comprising: a flat adhesive, located between the barrier wall and each light-emitting unit, and between two adjacent light-emitting units, wherein a thickness of the flat adhesive is not less than the height of the light-emitting unit and is less than the thickness of the barrier wall, an orthographic projection, on the substrate, of a surface of one side of the flat adhesive close to the substrate is completely located in an orthographic projection, on the substrate, of a surface of one side of the flat adhesive away from the substrate.
6. The backlight structure according to claim 5, wherein a cross section of the flat adhesive intercepted by a plane where a line connecting centers of the two adjacent light-emitting units is located is in the shape of a trapezoid, a length of a first base side of the trapezoid away from the substrate is greater than a length of a second base side of the trapezoid close to the substrate, a distance between endpoints, close to each other, of an orthographic projection of the first base side and an orthographic projection of the second base side on the substrate is 17 to 32 μm, and the plane is perpendicular to the substrate.
11. The backlight structure according to claim 10, wherein each of the at least some of the light regions comprises N light-emitting units, where N≥M, a distance from a center of an i-th light-emitting unit to a vertex angle of the light region is L.sub.i, i takes a value in the range from 1 to N, and L.sub.i, P, and N satisfy: 8.5≥P×(1/L.sub.1+1/L.sub.2+ . . . +1/L.sub.N)≥6.3.
12. The backlight structure according to claim 10, wherein a light intensity distribution I of the light-emitting unit satisfies: I=I.sub.0cosmα, I.sub.0 is the light intensity distribution along a direction of a normal perpendicular to a light exit surface of the light-emitting unit, a is an included angle between a light-emitting direction of the light-emitting unit and the normal, m=(−ln2)/(lncosα.sub.1/2), α.sub.1/2 is an included angle between the light-emitting direction and the normal when the light intensity is reduced to half of the light intensity corresponding to the normal direction, and a light ray emitted by the light-emitting unit has an optical path of h in the normal direction; and each of the at least some of the light regions comprises N light-emitting units, where N≥M, a distance from a center of an i-th light-emitting unit to a vertex angle of the light region is L.sub.i, i takes a value in the range from 1 to N, and L.sub.i, h, and N satisfy: 0.5≥{cosm×[(π/2)−(h/L.sub.1)]+cosm×[(π/2)−(h/L.sub.2)]+ . . . +cosm×[(π/2)−(h/L.sub.N)]}≥0.23.
19. The backlight structure according to claim 10, further comprising: a flat adhesive, located between the barrier wall and each light-emitting unit, and between two adjacent light-emitting units, wherein a thickness of the flat adhesive is not less than the height of the light-emitting unit and is less than the thickness of the barrier wall, an orthographic projection, on the substrate, of a surface of one side of the flat adhesive close to the substrate is completely located in an orthographic projection, on the substrate, of a surface of one side of the flat adhesive away from the substrate; a cross section of the flat adhesive intercepted by a plane where a line connecting centers of the two adjacent light-emitting units is located is in the shape of a trapezoid, a length of a first base side of the trapezoid away from the substrate is greater than a length of a second base side of the trapezoid close to the substrate, a distance between endpoints, close to each other, of an orthographic projection of the first base side and an orthographic projection of the second base side on the substrate is 17 to 32 μm, and the plane is perpendicular to the substrate.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. QIN US’677, LI US’758, and CHEN US’465 disclose relevant backlit devices with LED groupings with features similar to the claimed invention.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Evan P Dzierzynski whose telephone number is (571)272-2336. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday 8:00am-4:30pm PST.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Abdulmajeed Aziz can be reached at 571-270-5046. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/EVAN P DZIERZYNSKI/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2875
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